NB presents third Environmental Leadership Awards

FREDERICTON, NB-New Brunswick's third annual Environmental Leadership Awards were presented recently to five businesses, groups, organizations and individuals. The 2004 award in the Business category went to Mr Dumpster, a Saint John company and the first and only private hauler in the Fundy region to establish a composting program for its commercial clients. Under its Green Thumb program, launched in 2003, Mr Dumpster tailors a collection system to each client, educating the client's employees, tracking the program and monitoring contamination. The initiative has made a direct and important contribution to environmental protection by educating local business people about composting and diverting waste from landfilling. Sackville resident Matt Sheridan-Jonah received the award in the Individual category for his extensive environmental work in the community, ranging from organizing a regional Sustainability and Health workshop to co-ordinating a litter clean-up day. He is a part of the Tantramar Environmental Alliance as well as the key contributor to the Green Guide to Sackville, NB, a guide encouraging people to "lighten their ecological footprint." Sheridan-Jonah is also the primary community liaison for environmental issues at the provincial and national levels. In presenting the awards, Environment and Local Government Minister Brenda Fowlie noted that "in only its third year, the Environmental Leadership Awards Program has received over 165 nominations, but it is the calibre of the submissions that is most impressive."